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Former Colorado Avalanche right winger Scott Parker, left, exchanges punches with Los Angeles Kings forward Kevin Westgarth during a 2008 preseason game. Parker, who began his pro career with the Hershey Bears in 1998, claims former Bears coach Bob Hartley bullied him when the two were together in Colorado.
(AP Photo / Isaac Brekken)

“He was a junior B goalie trying to tell me how to fight,” Parker said of Hartley, who coached Hershey in 1996-97 and 1997-98, when the Bears were an Avs’ affiliate. “He was always just degrading me. Not to be a [wimp], but he was a bully. And he could be because he was in a position of authority.

“What was I supposed to do as a rookie? Go tell him ‘[Expletive] you?’ I did that stuff at the end of my career, but at the beginning of my career, I was just a chess piece to him.”

Parker, a 6-foot-5, 240-pound right winger, was one of Colorado’s four first-round draft picks in 1998. He played 100 regular-season games for Hershey in his two seasons, where he contributed 16 goals and 10 assists along with his significant physical presence.

Nicknamed “The Sheriff,” Parker was a prolific fighter at both the AHL and NHL levels. Hartley, who won the 1997 Calder Cup title with Hershey, was promoted to head coach in Colorado for the 1998-99 season after posting a 79-53-17 record with the Bears. He remained behind the Avs’ bench until he was fired 31 games into the 2002-03 campaign.

Parker, who believes he suffered more than 20 concussions during a pro career that ran through 2007-08, said coaches forced him to play while injured.

“He would call me a [expletive], say that Hershey would be my next stop, where I'd be ‘smelling chocolate fumes all day long,’” Parker told the Post. “I remember I thought I had a broken foot and told him about it, and he called me a [expletive] and said Hershey would love me.

“Nobody needed to question my commitment to doing my job. But I was just constantly belittled by Bob Hartley. I really have no respect for the man.”

Hartley, currently head coach of the Calgary Flames, declined comment to the Post when informed of Parker’s remarks.

Dan Stuck has been the Bears’ athletic trainer and player confidante since the 1985-86 season. Reached Monday night, Stuck said Parker didn’t mention having a problem with Hartley.

Dan StuckHERSHEY BEARS PHOTO

“I’d have to say I never heard it directly from Scott about Bob,” Stuck said. “There was heresay from other guys who were called up then sent back down [to Hershey]. You heard that was the way Bob motivated people in Denver. Instead of calling you in and talking things over, he’d call you out to motivate you.

“It worked back in the day, but today’s players are different. You sort of have to pamper a lot of them to motivate them. Different approaches work on some guys but don’t on others.”

“Guys like [ex-Bears] Frank Bialowas, Archie Henderson and Dennis Bonvie, they were ‘skilled’ hockey players in a different way,” Stuck said. “They were bouncers on the ice, assigned to protect the goal scorers. Fights were much more common in hockey games back then.

“That’s what a lot of people who came to the games looked forward to. It’s still that way for some people today. Hey, it’s fun to see a pretty goal, but the crowd loves a great fight.”

As for Parker’s contention he was intimidated by Hartley to play while injured in the NHL, Stuck said it would never occur in Hershey. He said no Bears coaches – including Hartley and current bench boss Mike Haviland – have ever ordered injured players to play.

“No chance,” Stuck said. “There’s no way – even back in the 1980s – that would happen here because we were always so protective of injury in Hershey. There’s no way any coach would say in our training room, ‘That [injured] guy has to play.’ Coaches don’t go against our word. They’re totally behind whatever decision the medical team makes.”